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NLCS Game 5 tidbits

NLCS Game 5 tidbits

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By Staff
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MLB.com |

Oh, what a pheeling: This is the Phillies' sixth National League pennant. Their other NL titles came in 1915, '50, '80, '83 and '93. They are 1-4 in their previous trips to the World Series, with only the 1980 team claiming the title. They lost to the Red Sox in five games in 1915, were swept by the Yankees in 1950, lost to the Orioles in five games in 1983 and lost to the Blue Jays in six games in 1993. They have won their past four trips to the NLCS since falling to the Dodgers in 1978.

Rollins rollin': In Game 5 on Wednesday, Jimmy Rollins hit the 10th leadoff home run in League Championship Series history and the first since Jose Reyes of the Mets on Oct. 18, 2006. Rollins also hit a leadoff homer in Game 4 of the NL Division Series vs. the Brewers, and he hit one last year in Game 2 of the NLDS vs. the Rockies. With Wednesday's leadoff homer, he becomes the first player to do so three times in the playoffs. And his three leadoff postseason homers are the only ones by a Phillies player.

The Big East: The Phillies are the first NL East team to play in the World Series since the 2003 Marlins. It is the seventh time the division has represented the NL in the Fall Classic in the Wild Card era. The NL West has represented the Senior Circuit four times and the NL Central three times since 1995. And with the winner of the Tampa Bay-Boston series set to face the Phillies, it will be the first all-East Division World Series since the Marlins faced the Yankees in 2003. In 2000, the Yankees played the Mets, and in 1996, the Yankees faced the Braves in the other all-East World Series since 1995.

All things being equal: The Phillies will be the 10th different NL club to play in the World Series since 1998, with only the Cardinals (2004, '06) winning the NL pennant twice.

Dodgers blues: The Dodgers are now 0-3 when facing elimination in NLCS play. Since moving to Los Angeles in 1958, the Dodgers have posted a 9-11 record when facing elimination in the postseason. The Phillies, meanwhile, moved to 4-0 in potential clinching games in LCS play.

Manny being Manny: With a solo shot off Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels, Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez extended his record streak of consecutive LCS games with an RBI to nine. He now has 30 RBIs in LCS play, which ranks second all-time to Bernie Williams (33). Ramirez went 7-for-8 with runners in scoring position during the NLCS.

By the numbers: Since the seven-game NLCS format was adopted in 1985, the home team is now 14-8 in Game 5. With the Phillies' victory on Wednesday, the team that wins Game 5 has gone on to win the series 13 of 21 times. Of the past 12 NLCS that stood 3-1, five ended in five games, four ended in six games and three were pushed to seven games.